hello and welcome to "ronan farrow daily" week two and this is the perfect place to nurse your post-oscar hangover. we'll explain what the white house is calling vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine. sam champion will be here today to make sense of the storms still slamming many parts of the

country. and we're going to kick off our call to action this week on voter rights and the battle over voter rights all around the country. we're going to take you to ohio today with two insiders, the political system there and give you a sneak peek at our exclusive with texas's wendy davis. stay tuned forehead lines. >> the ukrainian prime minister says we're on the brink of disaster. >> secretary of state john kerry calls it an invasion. >> are you willing to show solidarity with the ukrainians. >> absolutely. >> this is a conversation about obama's leadership pure and simple. >> we have a weak and indecisive president. >> president obama needs to do something. >> i would hope americans would focus on condemning the actions of putin. >> winter showing no signs of slowing down. >> this is part of a massive storm system. >> approaching 5 feet of snow. i'm tired and it's in march. >> dramatic testimony on day one of the oscar pistorius murder

trial in south africa. >> a tragic mistake driven by his fear of crime and vulnerability. >> and the oscar goes to -- "12 years a slave". >> no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid. >> look at us. >> ready? >> today the tug of war over ukraine continues and international stability could hang in the balance. it is three days into what the white house is described as a russian invasion of ukraine and now vladimir putin is tightening his grip. today russia's navy demanded that all ukrainian forces in crimea surrender by tomorrow. >> this could spread to the east and it's already dangerous and could get horrendous. >> john kerry arrives in ukraine

tomorrow on a diplomatic mission to support the interim ukrainian government. secretary kerry warned there could be repercussions for russia and he said all options are still on the table. >> this is an act of aggression that is completely trumped up in terms of its pretext. it's really 19th century behavior in the 21st century. >> 19th scentury, a 90-minute phone call between putin and obama yielded no solutions. and president obama is taking hits at home for his perceived inability to reign in russia. >> would do we care? zbls the ultimate result of a fek less foreign policy where nobody believes in america anymore. >> the u.s. delegation will be

skipping the pairalympics in sochi because of what is happening in the ukraine. pro russian demonstrators clashed with police over the weekend. we have new video of putin's military exercises near st. petersburg, do you think ukrainians on the ground there welcome the russian invasion in any sense? some of the demonstrations have been pro-russia, correct? >> reporter: that's right. if you go down into the square behind me, where pro russian pro testers encamped under a giant statue of lenin, that would be very encouraged and hope to see it repeated here. a few hundred kilometers here, another big city in east ukraine, today they occupied the ground floor of another government building, pro-russian pro testers. clearly they would like to see intervention.

russia may be creating chaos with that in mind, trying to create a situation where they can come in as they have done in crimea, using that chaos as an excuse or threat to the russian speaking population as an excuse. now, whether that view is widely held in the east is a moot point. clearly this is russian speaking. many of the people here are ethnic russians but that doesn't necessarily mean they would welcome a russian invasion. clearly if the russians did come into east ukraine, it would be far messier i think than the clinical operation that we've seen down in crimea, ronan. >> all right, nbc news correspondent ian williams reporting from ukraine. thank you so much for joining us. stay safe out there. why does crimea matter so much to putin? what's behind the invasion? reason one, crimea is the closest warm water port. it doesn't freeze in the watet

winter and uses it to ship arms to the government. reason two, this is the home to russian navy ships in the black sea fleet which made its base in crimea since 1783. i want to welcome bill richardson, former governor of new mexico. thank you for joining us. i want to start with an editorial in the "woul industrial journal", the world is full of bad actors looking to exploit the opening created by mr. obama's retreat from leadership and mr. putin is the leading edge of what could become a new world order or disorder rather. do you think there's anything the president could have done to stop vladimir putin ahead of this? >> no, i think the president has acted appropriately decisively. putin is on an ego trip.

he wants to capture the old s f soviet. sees opportunity in crimea, 6,000 troops there. he is testing nato and the european union and west. he's on a mission to show that russia internationally still matter, that it still has foreign policy, military sway and it's going to try to recapture its old glory. a lot of it is psychological. and what's going to be critically important and the president has made it clear, there are going to be costs and going to be diplomatic isolation. there's going to be sanctions and possibly some kind of military presence by nato by the u.s. in the surrounding area. so again, it's a chess game and it's important that we stay strong. the allies stay strong. united behind a heavy response.

>> i mentioned secretary kerry is heading to ukraine tomorrow. he's been warning putin in harsh terms but did the same regarding syria which was viewed as a misfire by many. do you think secretary kerry's diplomatic bluster is losing its punch. do you think he could still be effective in this? >> he was very strong yesterday. and i think it's important that he go to ukraine, show his support to the opposition, to the democratic forces, but he also send a message to ukraine, don't get into a brush fire with the russians. don't mess with the russians in crimea. let's try to resolve this issue in a diplomatic, sanctions in a diplomatic isolation way. i think in the long run, ronan, the fact that ukraine ousted yanukovych shows that they want the west. they want the european union. they want closer ties to the u.s. ukraine is a very important

country, strategically located. it had russia's old nuclear weapons and it's a country with a hugely important human population on the verge of strong economic recovery. so i think in the long run, things look good for us for the west, but at the same time, we've got to get the russians to retreat from crimea, the 6,000 troops, make sure they don't go into southern -- the southern part of ukraine. make sure those troops are not reinforced that are there in crimea, don't mess with them. i think it's important that the world send a message that they are going to be serious costs that might affect the russian ruble and affect russian currency, then putin will listen. >> a lot at stake at russia and also for the united states. thank you, governor bill richardson, we may come back to you on this story. and that leads us to today's battle of the day, on this very

subject. do you think what's happening in russia is a problem the united states should be dealing with? you heard some proposals from bill richardson. weigh in by choosing frd are problem or no problem. i thought they should use their problem because it is clearly somebody's problem. whether the united states should be doing more. we'll share your responses throughout today's show. first, coming up, a powerful winter storm forces at least five states to declare a state of emergency. how much more of this brutal winter can our nation handle? sam champion will join me live. and later, our daily panel does yaking about the big moments everybody is buzzing about from last night's oscars. >> so many different possibilities, possibility number one, "12 years a slave" wins best picture. possibility number two, you're

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welcome to what's next. comcast nbcuniversal. welcome back. now we go to the latest on the winter storm system affecting more than 130 million people. you the storm already affected those lives and shut down the federal government, not that it needed much help. once the snow is done and the cold will set in. we have reports from across the country starting with weather channel's jim cantore down in washington, d.c. take a listen. >> as we expected the snow continues to taper off and visibility is coming up. you can see the rotunda and capitol from our van teenage

point. the problem is that temperatures are still falling. we'll be in the single digits by the time tomorrow morning rolls around. >> reporter: traffic is beginning to get back to normal even though the temperature is 16 degrees. this city missed catastrophic ice storm because it stayed just above freezing as 3 inches of rain fell late on sunday. to the north of memphis, not so lucky, they got freezing rain and limbs and trees down, 34,000 people without power. temperatures now 16. tomorrow it may begin to melt off. >> reporter: i'm ron allen in atlantic city, new jersey, this is why there's a state of emergency. you can see the roads ahead of us are covered with snow and it's very slow going, 25 miles per hour, the temperatures also just 19. it's bitter cold outside. good day to take the day off if you can. back to you. >> all right, we are here with the weather channel's sam champion to take a closer look at everything going on right now.

sam, tell us why this storm is so surprising and why it's attracting all this attention? >> it's the scope of this storm. for days it's been on the map and 40 states, maybe 200 million people under the storm from starting as a rain maker in california in a place that needed it to an ice maker in texas. today you're pulling into populated areas like washington and roanoke. if you look at the back end where the snow is right now, we've shut off in new york. that's good news and shut off in philly as well. we're getting a little snow in washington, d.c. and still going to get snow scattered -- >> little snow and still shut down the government. >> here's the deal. did they need that much help? no. but all of that -- it's because of this line. the temperatures behind it so cold that we're going to get this icing going on and there's going to be icing that lingers into the carolinas and virginia. >> and the wf is also a big part. >> cold arctic air dumping down in the middle of the country. when you look here in the

northern plains, when you get to the point where you don't get above zero in march, it's very unusual. even in this part of the country. now we've done it for first time since 1948, 1960, those were super cold years and this has been the coldest since then. >> we have imagery from space of all of this. >> this is what i want -- really wanted to show you the impact of the storm and why so many people are talking about the winter storm titan. it came in california when california desperately needed rain and dumped an awful lot of rain then swept across the country. at the same time the cold air was coming in behind it. all of these clouds delivering this coating of ice through the south. that's been a recurring theme in these storms. >> you're getting the reports coming in from around the country at the weather channel, do you think the states hit hardest by this are prepared? you're seeing emergency response isn't up to snuff. >> i don't think anyone could have been prepared. we've had eight to ten years of quiet winter. in a lot of parts of the country like the northeast and the south

can never be ready for this. they don't have the money in cities like nashville and atlanta. these are big cities but -- >> sand -- >> don't have the money to keep the stock pile or keep the equipment if they don't use it regularly. that's why we want people to pay attention to forecast. we're forecasting very well all of these storms right now. i'm bragging a little bit but if you pay attention you can lead your communities through it. >> thank you the extremely famous sam champion, catch his new show monday, march 17th from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. and there are compelling reasons to watch on the weather channel. up next, we're asking some of you for help. we want to report out an important story that is increasingly mired in controversy. that is our call to action. you won't want to miss it. stay tuned after the break. the end. lovely read susan. may i read something? yes, please. of course.

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welcome back. every week here on "ronan farrow daily" we'll turn to you to help report on a story and hopefully push it forward. that is our call to action. this week, we're focusing on a fundamental democratic value, the right to vote as we gear up for an election year. that right is facing a fierce debate and significant changes all across the country. start out there some good news in the first three weeks of the year, 31 states introduce bills that would actually expand access to voting. but 19 states introduce laws that would restrict access, ranging from stricter voter i.d. laws to limits on mailing ballots and when you can vote. today we start with a closer look at ohio making headlines everywhere for changes to practice used in most states, early voting used before election day. the republican secretary of

state in ohio, cut early voting on weekday evenings and sundays, two times heavily used by minority voters. they are calling this voter suppression and defenders say it could save the state millions of dollars. joining me to weigh in on all of this is matt bornlg is, why does the ohio legislature, which is led by republicans, such as yourself, feel this change is necessary? >> well, first of all, republicans created early voting in ohio with over the objections of every single democrat, including the chairman of the ohio democratic party when it was created in 2005. all of the democrats voted no. so if there were -- the democrats had gotten their way in 2005 we wouldn't be having a discussion about what hours folks can vote early in ohio. it's been a remarkably hip critical to listen to democrats complain about the fact that we've got 28 days to vote in

ohio and i don't see how that's suppressing anyone's right to >> there's been a recommendation that's been made to the legislature from the association of ohio elections officials bipartisan group, republicans and democrats who administer these at the local level. one of the changes they suggested was voted on and passed by the democrats in 2009 and now all of a sudden some of these very same folks, in fact the woman who sponsored that bill in 2009, crying foul so really don't listen to any of the democrat talking points on this issue. it's been republicans who have expanded access to voting across ohio and we've had to fight the democrats every single step of the way, including right now their candidate for governor who is filing a lawsuit to try to prevent access to absentee applications for voters in 85 of ohio's 88 counties. i don't see how that is in any way doing what we ought to be doing, trying to get more people involved in the process --

>> let's talk to democratic voices in a little bit. but first, let's really give a fair shake to this argument that you're advancing, how many money do you think will be saved statewide? >> i can tell you this was a recommendation that came from the elections officials because their cost in some instances have almost doubled to administer these elections and staff these polling places and early voting locations and you know, having government offices open on weekends is an unusual thing. try to go to the post office on a weekend or visit your congressman's office on a sunday. they are almost never open. having to pay folks overtime all of this burden falls on the local elections officials. they are the ones who came to uts and to the secretary of state sean legislature and asked for some relief. it is in fact their recommendations bipartisan, republicans and democrats who have made this recommendation

that's been enacted. >> there's real economic stakes here. we've got to go shortly, but very quickly, you don't feel this disproportionately affects min orts. >> i don't see how anyone could claim -- first of all right now in ohio we mail an absentee application to every vej tered voter in ohio. you have 28 days to vote, doesn't matter if it's sundays or midnight on sunday. you can mail it in or you can go to your polling places in person and vote for 28 days. i don't know who's is being suppressed and a lot of other states like michigan and pennsylvania, you only have one day to vote. in ohio you have 28. >> thank you. appreciate you joining ugs here. >> thanks for having me. >> i'm joined by chris red ford, the chairman of the ohio democratic party, chairman thank you so much for joining us as well. why do you think democrats are disproportionately affected by a change like this? >> any time the franchise is opened up for more of us in ohio

and other states, more democrats will vote, whether it's the sunday before the election day, whether it's the 35 days of early vote that we had on the books for several years, that was widely em brazed by elections officials and candidates and of course by voters. it's really important to point out in 2005 when my republican friends passed a law, they didn't fund that law. we had early vote but we didn't have the mechanisms to provide resources to county boards of elections in rural counties, 88 ohio counties, about 75 of them are largely rural counties. early vote presents a budgetary difficulty. it's important to point out, this is not a privilege voting. it is a constitutional right. it's much different than say the speed limit or driving a car. those are privileges. here it's a constitutional right and eliminating the sunday voting period before the election day, 120,000 voters won't be able to vote on that day. my friend the republican chairman of the state of ohio

would rather us have voting between 8:00 and 4:00 on weekdays. that goes to the heart of this question -- do we have early vote available to all of us or some of us? >> the democrats as we just heard from counterpart have been threatening legal action over this. have you filed a lawsuit yet and do you defend that step? >> on this case we have not yet filed. that's forthcoming but we have filed four different lawsuits over the course of the last five years and won every time in federal court. as a lawyer, when you seek to enjoin an action in federal court it's essentially the judge is agreeing on this case the republican party violated the constitution. specifically the equal protection clause. creating two separate classes of people which the republicans have done by eliminating early vote, presents us a constitutional challenge. we will continue to fight this out in the courts and we'll be successful because of it. >> chris redfern, chairman of

the ohio democratic party. thank you for joining us as well sfwl thanks, ronan. >> to kick off the call to action, we need your help and your take and your eyes and ears on the ground. report back to us on one simple question, what is your number one challenge when it comes to voting sng when you went to the polls last or trying to get to the polls for primary day if you're in one of the states where that's about to happen, what makes it hard for you to get out and exercise that fundamental right of our democracy? is it the hours the polls are open, the distance to your polling station, or is it difficulty in registering in the first place? you can send us your replies twitter and facebook and over e-mail. just this weekend i traveled to the front lines of the heated governor's race in texas. that's another state where ail lot of action is happening on voter rights and it's where i talked to boij gubernatorial candidates and asked state senator wendy davis about her opponent greg abbott and why she continues to focus on his

appearances with ted nugent. >> what do you say to critics who say it's too much of a side show? >> i disagree. we're all responsible for our actions. he has reflected by associating himself with a person like nugent what the values really are. >> fighting words from wendy davis. you can catch the rest of my one on one interview with her tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. on "ronan farrow daily." tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. on msnbc. but first, we're going to look at why president obama had to issue a challenge to the prime minister ahead of their face to face meeting today. ellen degeneres went selfie happy. i feel left out. daily panel tries to cheer me up. the solutions. the innovations. all waiting to help us build something better.

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this hour we have developing news from washington, d.c. in just a few minutes president obama will welcome israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to the white house. we're expecting them to make remarks at the top of that meeting. joining me to discuss this is nbc white house correspondent peter alexander. any sense of where we'll hear remarks on what's happening in ukraine from the president? >> i think we can anticipate the president will make some comments about the situation in ukraine. the topic at hand for netanyahu and prime minister in israel and president obama is the peace process and iran with the april deadline fast approaching for the u.s. imposed april deadline for the u.s. and palestinian sides to come to terms on a framework for the peace deal. ukraine is really the significant international back drop right now. a matter of minutes with secretary of state john kerry traveling to the heart of this crisis in ukraine, kiev late today.

we've heard from his press secretary that russia -- sanctions against russia, economic sanctions are likely if russia continues on this current course. only a matter of hours ago this was basically communicated to the russians by vice president joe biden who spoke to prime minister medvedev saying if the situation is not resolved that russia can expect increasing political and economic isolation as well. again, those comments from both sides, both netanyahu and the president expected within next 10 or 15 minutes or so. >> peter alexander live any snowy white house. thanks again. but now, it is time for something a little more light handed. our daily panel. they are fabulous and they all watched the oscars. welcome two wonderful women, we have catori hall a playwright and lynn win sted, she won the

2010 award for new play, tony, pretty big deal. also the first african-american to do so. she is a good person to turn to right now on a pretty historic day. "12 years a slave" first black director of a best picture film. people are describing this as another kind of hattie mcdaniel moment. the figures are still pretty bleak on the overall composition of the academy, a lot of old white dudes, 94% caucasian, 70% male, median age 62. do you think this is a one-off moment that so often happens where hollywood pats itself on the back? >> i feel as though people are touting this as this is the year of the black movie. black people have been making movies for a very long time. >> happens to be a good movie. >> amazing movie. finally we're just getting this

high level of recognition. so yet i feel as though there is a tipping point but there's always tipping point. there's the butler, "precious", jeffrey was the first black man to win for adapted screenplay for. you can see seeds of change but i will say we always have a lot of work to do. i feel there's a performance of diversity happening where the actors are winning but behind the scenes like tv executives -- >> and those -- >> people of color in high positions, that's the stuff we need to work on next. >> you personally had to struggle with breaking through as a writer. >> absolutely. i'm still breaking through. >> you have broken through. come on. liz, what do you think of the last night? did you think ellen was a saving grace in an otherwise dry broadcast? i heard a lot of people say that. we had her selfie moment.

we can look at it where she hit up meryl streep for a little phone photo love. >> can you take it? i can't get everybody in here. >> i got it. >> okay. >> my arm is -- >> my arm is definitely better. >> look at us. oh, yes. >> come on. what do you think? >> i think ellen is narcissism, the fact they had to be like, how do we do this? there was mass confusion. gave it to the person in the front. >> they take attractive selfies, we've seen their twitter account. do you give her high marks? >> i thought it was really fun. >> i want to host the show.

>> you don't want that. >> i understand enjoying it and it was good. >> i thought she was great, funny. i thought she made great points. i was little put off by the liza thing -- >> left her out and there was a little bit -- dig on liza, the rest of it -- >> you can't dig at liza. >> ellen is great, just great. >> we like us ellen. >> another oscars moment i found fascinating with a jared leto talking about political issues. let's listen to jared leto being a foreign policy expert. >> to all of the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight in places like the ukraine and venezuela, i want to say we are here and as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we're thinking of you tonight.

>> i actually don't want to make fun of mr. leto, it was the right sentment what do you think of brando came out and brought -- >> didn't come out. >> that was like a real stand and that was a prolonged involvement and issue. is leto weighing in sort of in passing, is that a good thing, bad thing? >> what i think is -- the movie he just won the oscar for, if you talk about an invisible community that needs an advocate, i wish he would have taken the time, not that ukraine isn't awful, to know and researched a character like that and say, oh, my god, people, wake up because we have this amazing group of trans people who need our support and awareness and advocacy. i'm glad to be in a movie to push that forward. that would have been a really awesome moment instead of i know ukraine is happening -- felt a little bit like -- i just kind -- >> missed opportunity. i didn't believe all of those

people there were like desperately thinking about the ukraine while at the oscars. >> or people in ukraine were thinking about the oscars. >> kind of swung into -- not necessarily talking about the trans gender community but people affected and died of aids and there was like a little plug for it. marriage equality, that's something i think is pretty much a forefront of my mind and what's happening in uganda and signed this anti-gay rights bill. i think he was trying to like do five things in his speech. and let's pick one. >> you've got to be specific and it has to be a prolonged commitment. i think done a credible job of that. >> the organics of your issue, when you can speak about it eloquently. i work at it a lot is much more effective than realizing something is happening and feeling you want to say it and

kind of -- you're genuine but -- >> you were wonderful. we'll come back to you for more enme entakenment commentary. we asked you is russia's takeover of crimea a problem the u.s. needs to deal with. choose one of two hash tags, rfd our problem or no problem. it is literally neck in neck. 49% picked our problem. 51% picked no problem. nicholas tweeted, when you're the world leader almost everything becomes your problem. she shared quote, if it becomes a humanitarian crisis, only then should we step in. keep them coming, guys, we appreciate it. up next, we're going to have something totally different. one of these world leaders is accusing the u.s. of betraying him. why it's making our heroes and

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all right, it is time now for today's heroes and zeros. over the weekend a couple of brave souls took an icy plunge for a pretty good cause. it was just 10 degrees when jimmy fallon and political tough guy and former ball rena, trained as a dancer, rahm emanuel, dove into the icy waters of lake michigan to raise money for a charity. we love them both but the hero is the organization that they were supporting. special olympics, that is the world's largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities and supports and trains more than 4 million athleteses around the world every single year. that's a cause worth looking like an awkward sweat dog for

and worthy of our title today. but on the other hand we turn to a world leader installed by western power but railing against them. president hamid karzai of afghanistan, in today's "washington post," he's calling al qaeda more a myth than a reality. that's in line with months of exploiting anti-u.s. sentiment to strengthen his image and unhinged roadblocking of a suz security agreement that would have kept critical groups in afghanistan to support his own people and troops. something many afghan elders have called a dangerous mistake. afghan forces need the help to keep the peace. since the beginning of the year. 84 have been killed. president karzai may be out of power come april when the next afghan elections roll around. all of the leading candidates that succeed him are in favor of signing the agreement. for his potentially deadly political poflt touring, hamid

karzai is our zero of the day. up next, food banks are seeing an influx of the needy after a passage of a farm bill that slashes bills in food stamps. we're going to take you inside a soup kitchen for an in depth look at those impacted by the cuts and struggling for their next meal. iwe don't back down. we only know one direction: up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com

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welcome back. we're now at the part of the show we call "the world unseen." that's where we dig beneath the headlines and show you the people living out the story. when the president signed the farm bill last month it stirred a lot of controversy, in part because of the $8.6 billion it cut from food stamps. as many as 850,000 low-income households convalesce on the table as a result. msnbc teamed up with documentary filmmaker and msnbc contributor alexandra pelosi to see that impact firsthand right here in

new york. >> reporter: welcome to america, where one in five kids go to bed hungry. >> so, on november 1st, there was a large cut in the food stamps budget, over $1 billion, and the largest population that's getting hurt is the working poor. >> i worked my whole life, but i'm not going to be ashamed to come to the food bank because we've got to get the food for the family. >> we're definitely seeing an increase of families coming in. what we see on the rise is a lot of children. children are going to bed hungry. >> reporter: how does it feel to go to bed hungry at night? >> my stomach grow growls. >> just recently, our president signed into law a new farm bill. that farm bill is expected to make an additional cut. because of the way that the legislation was written, it's actually going to hit more americans than we believe. >> the emergency feeding programs are rationing the food. we're rationing food because of the demand that's coming through the door. we can't keep up with the demand. >> from the government. thank you. >> so, what are you doing here today? >> i'm trying to feed my family.

i'm trying to make ends meet, keep my family happy, and that's it. >> people i serve, they're just regular folks who go to work and they are struggling to make the ends meet. that's it. they're not trying to get over on anyone. they're just struggling to have the ends actually meet. >> we're catering to the working people, people that work a nine-to-five. >> in fact, it's whites who are educated. that's the growing group coming to pantries to get some assistance. >> it's a nightmare for most people. the middle class is disappearing. there's a small group of ultra-rich people, and everybody else is losing ground. >> politicians really, really need to come visit a pantry some day to see the children that are on line, to see the parents that are there that have nowhere else to go but to come here to get food for their family. it's a shame that we're in america and that kids are going to bed hungry. >> all right, a moving report. alexandra pelosi, that documentary filmmaker, joins us right now. alex, thank you so much for

being here. first question, the house budget committee chairman, paul ryan, released today a new report where he says, "in some significant respects, making it worse" is his assessment of programs designed to combat poverty. did you find that to be the case, being in these soup kitchens? >> here's the thing, i'm not really a politician. i can't get into the politics of it. i'm more like a political tourist, like i go check stuff out to see what's going on. they cut food stamps. i wanted to see what the impact of that was going to be. >> right. >> so i went to food kitchens around new york city to check it out, and what you see is, if you go from 9:00 to 5:00, they're empty. you know why? because people are at work. at 5:00, there's a rush of people called the working poor. and if paul ryan wants to cut food stamps, he wants to cut unemployment benefits, he wants to cut -- all the cuts they want to make, they have to find a way for people to actually be able to afford to eat. if you call -- all the politicians love to give these speeches about this is the

greatest country on earth, but if you have families in line at soup kitchens and their parents have jobs and they're not making enough to feed their families, there's something wrong with that. there's something fundamentally wrong with a country in which people with jobs and families, they cannot feed their families. that's all i was trying to say. >> you think the programs are helping and the cuts are not. >> yes. >> all right. that you, alexandra pelosi. we're going to have more from you. this is an interesting story. i know you're tracking other interesting stories, too. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. and now, let's check in for the last time on today's "battle of the day." remember, we asked you if you thought russia's takeover of crimea was a problem the u.s. should deal with. the winner -- and remember, this was a close race with 54% rfdrprob. this is the closest vote we've had on the show. thank you for everyone who weighed in. interesting there is a split sentiment and a lot of people want us to do more on ukraine. that wraps up things for today's

edition of "ronan farrow daily." thank you for joining me. you can catch this week, 1:00 p.m. eastern time right here on nbc, much more of our programming. but first, it is time for "the reid report" with my colleague, joy reid. she will be with you right after the break. i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com [ mala body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food.

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and higher mortgage rates. it's a problem waiting to happen. check your credit score, check your credit report at experian.com. happy monday, everybody. welcome to "the reid report." i'm joy reid. in a moment, how the israeli prime minister's visit to the white house today could boost prospects for mideast peace. we'll examine whether it will be more than just talk. and later, our oscar night review. the awards, the dresses, the selfie that broke twitter. we'll break it down for those of you who couldn't make it through to midnight. but we start with the fast-moving events out of ukraine. russian officials are denying reports that say the chief commander of russia's fleet in the black sea has given ukrainian military officials in crimea an ultimatum -- the

surrender of its forces by 10:00 p.m. eastern time. regardless, the state department says that sanctions versus russia are "likely." in response to the crisis that began friday, president obama is reportedly getting on the phone with european allies, along with vice president joe biden today, telling his russian counterpart over the phone to pull back the troops. secretary of state john kerry flies to ukraine tomorrow. after the meeting today with the president of moldova, another former soviet republic whose security may depend on the result in ukraine. on sunday, kerry was quite strident in his condemnation of russia. >> this is an act of aggression that is completely trumped up in terms of its pretext. it's really 19th-century behavior in the 21st century. >> financial markets today appear to be exacting their own revenge on russia, and investors as a whole.